If I make $50 an hour or $200 an hour it makes no difference in the variance involved. Over 2080 hours (1 year at 40 hrs a week) running good, bad or even makes me that hourly rate. Daniel Neagranu used to say when he played he figured out his hourly rate at something like $88 and hour. When he went to the casino, it made no difference if he won, lost or broke even, he made $88/hr. When he made $5K in one sitting, he made $88/hr. Are you saying he needs to make $100/hr when winning to make up for the -$50/hr he is losing on variance? If that's the case, then he's not making $100/hr. The hourly rate is based on earnings divided by the length of playing time.

So taking everything you say about $100/hr anyone playing poker full time must have earned $100 x 2040 hrs = $204000 a year in poker profits playing 40 hrs a week. Even I don't need that much to replace a $60K a year job.